Time On: Kane Cornes defends Jason Horne-Francis amid calls for Port Adelaide star to be dropped over Ken Hinkley snub

Kane Cornes has unashamedly come to the defence of Jason Horne-Francis amid calls for the Port Adelaide star to be dropped after he turned his back on coach Ken Hinkley at the weekend.

Time On is your wrap up of all the footy gossip and banter.

Kane Cornes is not budging on his love and admiration for Jason Horne-Francis, taking a bat to anyone critical of the Port Adelaide midfielder’s performance.

Cornes’ pet player was squarely in the gun against North Melbourne with many including Matthew Lloyd and David King suggesting his behaviour needed to change.

Lloyd went as far as suggesting that Horne-Francis turning his back on coach Ken Hinkley was a disrespectful move that warranted being dropped from the team.

“It’s nearly droppable behaviour if your coach is talking to you and you are walking away, not wanting to hear him out,’’ Lloyd said on the Sunday Footy Show.

Kane Cornes (left) says he is seat 1A in the Jason Horne-Francis fan club. Picture: Supplied

King said Horne Francis was “emotionally messing with the team” to the point where they had to have a match committee at three quarter-time as leaders Connor Rozee and Zak Butters helped calm him down.

Not once, but twice on Sunday night, Cornes fiercely defended his man on his AFL and Channel 7 shows, saying that clearly “he thought (Hinkley) had finished”.

Sitting in “seat 1A on the Horne-Francis plane”, Cornes doubled down alongside King on SEN breakfast Monday morning, saying his performance was “unbelievable” and he’s “one of the toughest Port Adelaide players that has ever played for the club”.

Josh Giddey, Joe McGuire soak up Easter Monday clash

Josh Giddey has been back in Melbourne, enjoying some footy action and catching up with friends.

The Chicago Bulls basketball star was back at the MCG on Monday in Eddie McGuire’s Jam TV box along with Joe McGuire, Brendan Fevola and Dave Hughes.

He caught up with Collingwood acting captain Nick Daicos and Tom Mitchell last week.

Giddey is a long-time Hawks fan.

Tom Mitchell, Nick Daicos and Josh Giddey in Melbourne. Picture: Supplied

Zorko opens up on frosty Fagan chat

Brisbane Lions veteran Dayne Zorko has revealed what really went on between himself and Lions coach Chris Fagan on the bench during the loss to Collingwood.

Dayne Zorko had a frosty exchange with coach Chris Fagan. Picture: Supplied

The pair appeared to have animated exchange at the Gabba but Zorko said it was timid compared to their usual chats.

“That was one of the more timid conversations between me and Christian,’’ Zorko said on Triple M’s Saturday Rub.

“So that was not as heated as what we have had before, trust me. There was not even any expletives between the two of us. It got blown up a little bit but given it’s a Thursday night, it’s a big game, there’s cameras everywhere. We were probably a little bit surprised ourselves how much traction it got.”

Originally published as Time On: Kane Cornes defends Jason Horne-Francis amid calls for Port Adelaide star to be dropped over Ken Hinkley snub